Proficiency with musical instruments requires practice. During practice, it is often desirable to control the volume of the instrument to avoid disturbing others in the area. With certain acoustic instruments, volume control can be especially difficult, and attempts to control volume can affect both playing technique and tone. Various devices and methods are used to mute or otherwise reduce the volume of musical instruments during practice.
Percussion instruments such as drums and cymbals present significant problems of controlling volume during practice. Many percussion instruments are loud by nature, and attempting to play percussion instruments such as drums and cymbals quietly is typically ineffective at reducing noise and may require substantial changes in technique that reduce the effectiveness of the practice.
Accordingly, as with musical instruments in general, various devices and methods have been developed to facilitate practice with percussion instruments. For drums and cymbals, drum pads or practice pads are used instead of or in conjunction with the drum or cymbal. Practice pads are typically made of a resilient material that absorbs impacts instead of resonating when struck. During use, a practice pad is conventionally placed on a drum or on another support surface such as a drum stand, a table or desk top, or the user's lap.